Stromberg WW Carburetor Top Cover Screw Torque?

[r1lark]

@carbking

 

Reassembling a Stromberg WW carburetor (6-128 from a '62 Studebaker). I know that the cover (airhorn) screws should not be overtightened or it will warp the top cover. Had to fix this one per instructions posted by carbking on the H.A.M.B. 

 

Is there a published torque spec for the top cover screws? I have the screwdriver-type torque tool, just need a spec to use. Have looked online and found a few Stromberg documents but no torque info in them. What is enough but not too much?

 

Thanks in advance!!

 

Edited October 1, 2023 by r1lark (see edit history)

[carbking]

Stromberg did not specify this measurement on any of the service documents that I have.

 

Checking standard torque tables yields 13 INCH-POUNDS (NOT FOOT-POUNDS).

 

No 6-foot cheater bars are necessary  

 

Jon

[r1lark]

Thank you Jon. I'll sneak up on that number but stop if it seems like too much. Can always snug them up slightly if I have a leak, don't want to warp the cover again after getting it flat!

[Bloo]

I've always done those with a well-fitting screwdriver, so you have some feel. I've overhauled quite a lot of them at work over the years, and one of my own cars that was getting near 400K miles when it got wrecked had a WW. I've had plenty of opportunities to rebuild one where I was the previous mechanic. I never warped my own carb, or if I did it wasn't bad enough to not seal. It is so hard to put in words what to do, but I would say the following. Get the screws almost finger tight and wiggle it a little bit to be sure everything is fitting together nice, then go around in a cross pattern like you were torquing a head. Go around about 3 times and bring it up. For final torque, as you suspected less is more. You want to get a tiny bit of crush on the gasket, but if you are used to feeling out bolts and screws, you don't want it to quite "pull up" like you would normally, just almost. Didn't these have lockwashers on the screws? I can't remember. If so, just barely collapse them, that is enough. If there seems to be a chance the screws might come loose from vibration, a drop of purple (very low strength) Loctite will put a stop to that. I don't recall ever using purple Loctite on a WW, as I was so comfortable with those carbs, but I did on a lot of others. When in doubt it can't hurt.

 

I'd like to hear more about how you reflattened it.

 

[r1lark]

Thanks Bloo, that's essentially what I did, except using the torque measuring screwdriver. Ended up going 8 inch-lbs, but probably should have gone a little less. 

 

As far as straightening the top cover, I used the method that carbking outlined in this thread here on the AACA forum:

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/268494-tip-on-repairing-a-warped-carb-air-horn/